Rosa
Rosa was a highly skilled and powerful Umbra Witch as well as Bayonetta's mother. Imprisoned for the birth of her daughter, Rosa was one of the two people responsible for the downfall of both her clan and the Lumen Sages. Appearance In the first game, Rosa is only ever seen briefly in Bayonetta's memory. Initially, before her imprisonment, she wears a long black dress and boots and a hood that covers up her head and face, the silhouette in a manner similar to Bayonetta's beehive hairstyle. She also wears a pair of butterfly motif glasses which she eventually gives to her daughter. In Bayonetta 2, Rosa appears as she does in her imprisoned concept art. Retaining her butterfly glasses, she now sports chains around her wrists and chest, with various loose belts on her limbs. She also sports a cloak that is split into two like a pair of wings and the sleeves around her wrists and feet resemble the curves of a bat wing. She wields a set of guns similar to the Umbran Sister guns, but with slight differences in design. ''Bayonetta'' 500 years before the events of the first game, Rosa fell in love with a Lumen Sage, Balder. The two of them conceived a child, breaking the law between the two clans that stated the intersection of light and dark would bring destruction to the world. When Cereza was eventually born, Rosa and Balder were punished greatly by their respective clans. She was imprisoned for the rest of her life and Balder was exiled by his clan whilst Cereza was raised amongst the Witches as a black sheep. According to Cereza, it was Rosa who gave her her Umbran Watch as a birthday present. Rosa would also sing Fly Me to the Moon to her daughter every day she slept outside her cell. Rosa was eventually killed during the Witch Hunts during the attacks on Vigrid and the Crescent Valley. In one of Bayonetta's flashbacks, she holds her mother's lifeless body in her arms as tears well in her eyes. Like all Umbra Witches, her soul was taken to Inferno upon her death. However, the true details of Rosa's death wouldn’t be made clear until her daughter travelled to the past to witness the truth. ''Bayonetta: Bloody Fate'' In the anime adaptation, Rosa plays a similar role to the one she did in the first game. Her death is also expanded upon where Bayonetta and Jeanne both find her amidst the ruins of their home and piles of dead Witches. As Balder floats menacingly over the scene, having seemingly ordered the deed done himself, Rosa pleads with her daughter in her last moments to set Balder free from the madness that has gripped his soul upon being exiled from the Lumen Sages. She gives Bayonetta her lipstick and passes away. When Balder is later defeated and is about to be struck down by the lipstick bullet, he hallucinates Rosa telling him that she still loves him despite what he has done. ''Bayonetta 2'' Rosa is first shown in a flashback when Bayonetta is shown the true nature of her mother's demise in a vision. Balder is with her, explaining that he had been tricked by the forces of Paradiso into triggering the Witch Hunts. Rosa is then suddenly struck down by a figure from the shadows. In her dying moments, she tells Balder to promise her to watch over their daughter and passes away. Later, after fighting the Masked Lumen in Inferno during the present day, Bayonetta makes an attempt to rescue Loki when he appears to stop their battle. He tells her to get away from him before he glows brilliantly and lets out an explosion of blue light, catching both Bayonetta and Balder in the blast. When Bayonetta comes to, she realises she has arrived in Vigrid during the Witch Hunts. After dispatching a few angels, Bayonetta eventually meets Rosa, who has been freed from her chains to aid her fellow Umbra in the battle. Displaying a fighting skill that almost surpasses Bayonetta's, Rosa encourages Bayonetta to team up in order to protect the nearby clock tower from attack. It is unclear whether Rosa realises who her new companion is. The two proceed to head through the Umbran structures in an attempt to fight off the invading angels. After clearing out a legion of attackers by fighting on falling debris akin to the beginning of the first game, Bayonetta encounters Loptr after being separated from Rosa. Bayonetta is knocked off the debris and lands harshly when Loptr runs away. When she comes to, she catches up with Balder again and the two head into the Crescent Valley sanctuary to find Rosa. Inside, it is clear that Loptr has murdered Rosa and the rest of the Witches inside with his cards and he promptly vanishes. Having her vision from before confirmed, Bayonetta encourages Balder to help them strike back at Loptr for causing this and opens a portal back to the present. As the pair of them prepare to travel home, Bayonetta whispers 'Mummy...' under her breath in a final farewell to Rosa. Trivia *When Bayonetta shoots Balder with the lipstick, the writing on it reads "Balder and Rosa: With Love Until the End of Time". According to Hideki Kamiya in his commentary, the lipstick was a present from Balder to Rosa and hints at the depth of his deception in order to awaken Jubileus. However, this deception would later be shown to not be completely of Balder's own doing. *Bayonetta strongly resembles her mother—strong enough that Cereza confuses her adult-self with her. This is further strengthened with her similar voice to Bayonetta when she appears in Bayonetta 2, as Rosa is voiced by Hellena Taylor, the same voice actress for Bayonetta. *Both Rosa and Bayonetta have butterflies as a common theme in their appearance and powers. This is further hinted in Bayonetta wearing her mother's glasses when she wakes up. *Rosa's birthday is February 14, 1385. **Interestingly, the Japanese home video release date for Bayonetta: Bloody Fate was on Rosa's birthday. *Rosa was 26 years old when she gave birth to Cereza, she would also die at age 46, twenty years after giving birth. *In the opening stages of Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2, it is possible to get a Bronze or Silver Award that takes the form of an Umbran Witch bearing a striking resemblance to Rosa. In his commentary, Hideki Kamiya stated that this is intentional as the characters that usually take the place for those rewards (Luka & Cereza in Bayonetta, and Luka & Loki in Bayonetta 2) have not yet been introduced. The statue is used to avoid potential spoilers. * It is believed that the guns Rosa uses in Bayonetta 2 ''which are named ''Unforgiven ''are similar to that of the The 'Ruger Single Six' which is a single action rim-fire revolver. This is because of the cutscene in which she is introduced when she is flicking back on the gun's hammer piece as one would do with that type of weapon. * The name 'Rosa' is Latin for Rose which closely links to her birth date of February 14, 1385. This being that on Valentine's Day where most people are known for giving roses to their lovers. * Players can only unlock Rosa in the Tag Climax by beating the game on Hard Mode. Quotes * "''Balder... This war is not your doing..." * "It's been twenty years since I last saw you... but I kept it safe all this time... The present you gave me... the symbol of our love." * "Your face will be the last thing I see. Thank you..." * "Balder. Take care of Cereza...Watch over her. See to it no harm comes to her." * "We will be overrun soon!" * "Gather at the clock tower," * "We must defend it with all our strength!" * "Y-You..." * "The symbol of the Umbran way... No... There's no way that this could have been his plan! " Relationships *Father Balder/Balder - Lover *Cereza/Bayonetta - Daughter Gallery Rosa_Concept_Art.png|Concept art of Rosa in Bayonetta Rosa_Concept_Art2.png|Concept art of Rosa imprisoned in Bayonetta. RosaFlashback.png|Rosa sitting in her prison cell, singing to Cereza. Rosa_Death3.png|Rosa's death in Bloody Fate RosaBF.png|Rosa, appearing to Balder in his final moments, in Bloody Fate. Bayo2 - Rosa concept.png|Rosa in her new outfit for Bayonetta 2 Rosa in Bayonetta 2.jpg|Close up of Rosa in Bayonetta 2 Bayonetta and Rosa.jpg|Bayonetta and Rosa fight together. Rosa_Bayonetta.png|Bayonetta with Rosa. Rosa's_weave 2.png|Rosa's Wicked Weave depicting a beetle-like motif Rosa_Shadow.png|Rosa's shadow Rosa_Death2.png|Rosa's death, at the hands of Loptr Category:Characters Category:Females Category:Witches Category:Deceased Category:Bayonetta Category:Bayonetta 2 Category:Playable Characters